1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for breaking a horse from cribbing by administering a shock treatment. The device distinguishes other equine activity such that the animal does not receive a shock treatment other than for the activity being discouraged.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Cribbing and wind sucking are disgusting and harmful habits in horses. Cribbing occurs when a horse grabs a stationary object, such as a fence board, stall wall, bunk or the like in its teeth and tears at the gripped member. In extreme cases, a horse may crib up to 3,000 times a day. Cribbing is harmful to the horse""s teeth and rough on barns, fences and stalls.
Wind sucking occurs when a horse breathes forcibly through its mouth and gulps air into the digestive tract which can cause colic. A horse with colic has stomach contractions and its intestines may entangle, sometimes with a grave outcome. Cribbing and wind sucking often go together. The cribbing horse having its mouth open can also wind suck, thus combining two bad habits. Because of the dangers in wind sucking, some equine insurance companies will not insure cribbers.
Various ways have been proposed to treat cribbing and wind sucking based on the observation that when a horse cribs or wind sucks, the muscles at the sides of its throat swell causing a distension that results in a larger circumferential dimension around the horse""s neck. Straps have been developed to provide an inward pressure on the throat of the horse when it starts to crib or wind suck and electrical shocking devices have been developed that are triggered by the distension of the animal""s throat. Pressure straps can choke the horse and may cause sores due to rubbing. Electrical shocking devices have other flaws, including shocking the horse because of some other equine activity that is not cribbing or wind sucking. The devices can also provide prolonged and protracted shocks to the horse if the device does not reset. This is a serious problem as horses are highly sensitive to pain. In addition, both types of devices come into effect well after the activity has started, hence the horse may not associate the choking or shocking with cribbing, with which the process began.
Horses may also be treated for cribbing and wind sucking with antiobsessive-compulsive drugs and surgical treatments, including neurectomy and myotomy.
A need exists for an effective device, which is not harmful to a horse like drugs or surgery, but is effective, unlike cribbing straps that choke or shock, to break a horse of the cribbing habit. It is to this need that the present invention is addressed.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that applies a shock treatment to a horse, immediately, when the horse starts to crib. It is another object to provide an anti-cribbing device that is not accidentally triggered by other equine activity. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
In accordance with the invention, an anti-cribbing device for horses has a member upon which a horse can crib, a sensor and a generator. The sensor detects when the member is cribbed upon by a horse and sends a signal to the generator. When the generator receives the signal from the sensor, the generator applies a shock therapy to the horse in the form of an adverse stimuli such as an electrical shock, vibration, noise, light, smell or the like.
The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims.